My Demon Friends-Chapter 493 - 473

November passed. The ginkgo trees of Ginkgo Village finally turned yellow.

Little Cousin had originally planned to save some money and splurge on a trip to Ginkgo Village this year to take some photos, but now she had given up on the idea. On one hand, she was very satisfied with the ginkgo photos she took on her previous trip to Changping Lookout. She felt that even if she went to Ginkgo Village, she couldn’t take pictures more beautiful than those. Although the photos she submitted were like clay oxen sinking into the sea, eliciting no response at all. On the other hand, this year’s Singles’ Day had come too early, and the ginkgo trees turned yellow too late. Consequently, she had already spent all her money and was now deeply in debt.

December arrived. Winter was approaching.

Chunming, however, was experiencing a continuous spell of good weather, reaffirming its reputation as a city of ’eternal spring’.

On the rooftop of the tallest academic building in the school.

The ground was covered with a layer of dark, rain-soaked mud, indicating that few people ever came up here. This was indeed the case. Normally, the rooftop access was locked, and only the building supervisor had the key. Even they rarely came up, as there were almost no activities that required using the rooftop. When a panoramic view of the campus was needed, drones were a much better option.

Brother Nan, with her superb lock-picking skills, opened the door, then locked it again after they entered to avoid any disturbances.

The rooftop welcomed four guests: two humans, one Demon, one cat, along with a barbecue grill and numerous skewers of food.

One might say they were incredibly audacious.

The sunlight today was exceptionally warm, heating their skin. Distant clouds, like small tufts, were strung together along the horizon. Occasionally, a few birds flew overhead; otherwise, they were the highest beings around. A trail of scattered footprints now marked the rooftop.

"This time we’re here for a trial run," Brother Nan said to Zhou Li and Huai Xu. "If it goes well, next time we’ll invite Cotton Swab and Baozi, or even the whole club. How great is that idea, right?"

"Outlandish," Zhou Li commented.

"What’s so outlandish about this? It’s just a bit of mischief, at most." Brother Nan stood on her tiptoes, peering into the distance. "The wind is quite strong; our barbecue smell probably won’t be detected here."

"Maybe."

"Wouldn’t it be exciting if we were discovered?"

"Not really."

"You’ve gotten a lot braver, bro!" Brother Nan slapped Zhou Li’s chest forcefully, making a THUMPING sound.

"Hey, easy with the hands..."

Zhou Li stepped back, feeling a bit ticklish.

But after hanging out with Brother Nan for so long, he really had become much braver. In the past, doing even small mischievous things would thrill him, but now, picking a lock to barbecue on the rooftop felt almost routine.

Huai Xu began to arrange the skewers, his movements surprisingly professional, as he called out in a voice tinged with the aroma of cumin—

"Lamb skewers! Get your lamb skewers here!"

"Delicious lamb skewers!"

"The tasty ones cost money! The not-so-tasty ones are free!"

Then he looked up at Brother Nan and Zhou Li. "How about it, you two lovebirds? Want some lamb skewers?"

Zhou Li leaned over for a look. "Just don’t burn them."

Huai Xu scoffed. "The Great Devil King may not know how to cook proper meals, but I’m a dab hand at grilling meat. Back when conditions were poor, if we got meat, the simplest way to prepare it was to grill it or boil it in plain water."

"That’s called cooking."

"What?"

"The way to cook it," Zhou Li reminded him. "It’s called cooking."

"I don’t have time for you!"

Huai Xu bent over the skewers again, humming a Qingjiang-style ballad under his breath. The aroma of cumin was strong. Tuanzi stood on its hind legs by his feet, straining to see onto the grill, but it couldn’t, looking utterly pitiful.

"There’s an essay due today," Brother Nan said.

"I know."

"Did you write it?"

"Haven’t written it. You?"

"I had Little Cousin write it for me. I paid her 50 yuan per essay," Brother Nan nodded. "It’s an okay deal. Asking someone on the forums to copy 1,500 words for you would cost about the same."

"Did she approach you first?"

"You guessed it?"

"No, she approached me too." Zhou Li was baffled. "But why did she charge me 80 yuan?"

"That’s always how it is." Brother Nan moved to stand beside Huai Xu, helping to monitor the heat and seasonings, her expression calm. "You see, those involved in pyramid schemes or selling insurance always scam their own people the hardest. It just means you two are close."

"???"

"Did you agree?" Brother Nan grinned.

"I said I’d think about it," Zhou Li replied. "I wanted to write it myself."

"What’s there to write about that stuff? Isn’t it just copying some random essay off the internet to get by?" Brother Nan said, pointing to the middle of Huai Xu’s skewers. "The fire’s too high; you’re burning them."

"You’re mistaken!" Huai Xu insisted stubbornly. "They smell amazing!"

"Let me do it," Brother Nan said, forcibly nudging him aside. "Otherwise, we won’t have anything to eat today."

"Then I’ll ask her to write mine too," Zhou Li said.

"Giving your little cousin a chance to earn some money is a good thing," Brother Nan remarked. She picked out a few slightly charred skewers, sprinkled seasoning on them, and handed them to Zhou Li and Huai Xu. "Just eat these; don’t let them go to waste."

"Thanks, Brother Nan."

Zhou Li took a bite of a skewer. Although slightly burnt, it tasted pretty good. The main reason was that the lamb was high quality, the meat tender, and the seasonings excellent. So, unless the cooking was truly disastrous, it was hard for it to taste bad.

"Lord Dumpling wants to eat too!"

"Oh, I’m sorry!"

Only then did Zhou Li remember he had forgotten Tuanzi. He quickly squatted down. "It’s because Huai Xu burned this skewer, and I can’t give a burned skewer to the esteemed Lord Dumpling."

"Pick Lord Dumpling up! Lord Dumpling wants to watch the grilling too!" Tuanzi stretched its paws out to Zhou Li.

"Alright."

"One course has already ended. Does that mean this semester is almost over too?" Brother Nan said with some excitement. "I kind of miss that bunch of idiots from high school, and Little Zheng from the mountain."

"These kinds of general education courses always end early."

"But by the end of the month, there will basically be no classes left."

"True."

Zhou Li didn’t miss his high school classmates; he hadn’t been close to any of them and felt no nostalgia. But he did miss Little Zheng quite a bit. Today’s lamb had come from Little Zheng. He had slaughtered a sheep and had more meat than he could eat, so he contacted Huai Xu. Huai Xu then made a delivery run between Yan City and Chunming, which led to today’s barbecue.

It was already December; the semester was indeed drawing to a close.

"Ready!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Brother Nan handed them another batch of skewers. "Eat them while they’re hot. You can sit over there. I’ll keep grilling."

A picnic blanket was spread out nearby.

But Zhou Li didn’t sit down. Instead, he remained standing beside Brother Nan, watching her work. He took out his phone, snapped a few pictures, and boldly posted them on his QQ Space, completely unafraid of teachers or classmates seeing them.

He refreshed the page—

*You have a new like.*

Zhou Li clicked on it. It was from Mianmian.

Then Qian Qian.

Mianmian and Qian Qian were the kind of girls who, despite their cute online personas, seemed to do nothing but mess around on their phones all day.

Soon, more likes and comments trickled in. Because Zhou Li rarely posted such things—in fact, he almost never posted anything, let alone content featuring Brother Nan—many people were teasing him.

Even Old Zhou and Aunt Jiang had reacted.

Aunt Jiang had probably set up special notifications for them. Old Zhou definitely wouldn’t have; Aunt Jiang must have told him.

Zhou Li ignored them all.

DING-DONG!

This time, it was a message.

Zhou Li thought for a moment, then found Baozi in his contacts and typed: Alright, please write my paper for me then.

Zhou Li sent a red packet for 88.88 yuan.

A notification popped up: *Your friend Baozi has received your red packet.*

Baozi: Received.

Baozi: Cousin, Mianmian told me you guys are having a barbecue outside. It looks delicious!

Zhou Li: Yeah.

Baozi: Where are you grilling?

Zhou Li: On the roof of the academic building. We jimmied the lock to get in.

Baozi: You should take me next time!

Baozi: I can help you carry things and do the heavy lifting. If we get caught, I can even take the fall for you!

Zhou Li: We’re just here for a trial run. Brother Nan said if it goes well, we’ll invite you all next time.

Baozi: Do I need to chip in?

Zhou Li: No need.

Baozi: Definitely!

Zhou Li: Okay.

Baozi: I’m starting on the paper now.

Zhou Li: Alright.

Putting down his phone, Zhou Li shook his head. In the past, this little cousin, even when freeloading, had been far more aloof than she was now. It was a clear indicator of her financial situation—even though the university cafeteria was incredibly cheap, she still tried to save on every possible meal. He’d pack some of the barbecue up for her to take back later.